A few months ago some nice person reversed into my MX-3, I wasnt around to see it, but when got back to the car there it was.. a nice hole in the front!

Anyway I got over it and decided it would be ok for now, as I will be buying the Mazdaspeed bumper early next year!

Last week I was up all night due to a leaking radiator & water going into the down stairs flat!! So I leave for work and miss judge the exit from my driveway and clip the fence post and do this: (the fence post was not harmed! lol)

So I had 3 options,

Buy the new bumper early

Get a body shop to repair it for over £150

Repair it myself for £30

And I decided to go with the 3rd option :)

So far I have sanded down, appyed P38 Filler to the hole & applyed one coat of filler primer.. Unfortunately garage space and the weather here are not helping much!

I have now sanded down the filler primer, providing the weather holds off I should be able to get the next & last filler primer coat on after work :)

Thats quite an ambitious project taking on not only a KLZE swap but a Turbo aswell and not a cheap one either.

Has the engine arrived yet? How much did you pay for it? Where did you get it from?

I thought the KLDE was the preffered starting point for making a Turbo not a KLZE. Ther KLDE has a lower compression ratio than the KLZE, which is important if you plan to go turbo. The difference is in the shape of the pistons I believe - KLZE have flat top pistons, KLDE have a concave top thus lowering compression.

To be honest from what I have heard from Babybluemx3 Uprated pistons and con rods is the only realistic way to go if you want an engine with longterm stability.

And thats just the start of the shopping list. Keep us informed and we will help out where we can.

I've just bought another mx-3 with exactly the same purpose - struggling to source the engine at the moment though! Got the car (black '94 v6 with old style half-leather interior - my fave) for £250 with 80k on the clock, driveable but with oil leaks. Seemed perfect for the job.

What was the est. mileage on your ZE? £750 seems pretty expensive compared to the $600 most Americans and Canadians are paying, but that's the price we pay for living in good ol' Britain I guess.

Be sure to take loads of photos of the swap - I'm itching to see how it goes, also planning to do it myself with my mate who's a full-time mechanic.

They told me it should be under 25K, i have had the cam covers off and they look like they have hardly been used (Very good condition)

Was quite good gettin it from nippon spares, as I dont live that far from them I went down there when they got them in, picked the best one out of 3, swapped some bits that were better on the other ones (travel damage) and got free delivery via my dads van! lol

It only had 2 owners before me, both of them took very good care of it!

There is no evidence of a respray, and some of the car was starting to fade when I got it, so I gave it a good T-Cutting and that made a BIG difference!!

On another note: Insurance

If anyone is thinking of doing the swap or even as far as I plan with a Turbo, I highly recommend speaking to Adrian Flux for insurance.

They quoted me half what I payed last year with my old insurer, plus the company they put me with allow any mod, and only charge you £25 a time if you declare, so for me it will be: Standard - KLZE - Turbo, it will cost me the £50 + any change to premium, which is only about £200 with the ZE & Turbo!!!

As I am a young driver this makes a massive difference to how much I fork out each year - Well Pleased! :D

When you say young driver, what do you mean?
I'm 22, 3 points on my license, live in a very low crime rate area and my insurance cover won't let me change anything performance wise.
how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm already with Adrian Flux (am 23, one month away from first NCB) and they've been really good so far, best quote by far, but I was skeptical about the engine change.

I was kind of considering not telling them as I anticipated it going up by about 600, but if you're saying it's only 200ish extra with ZE and a turbo, then I'll definitely declare it.

They're not so good with non-sporty cars though. When I crashed my MX-3 I got a little diesel 205 as a run around in the meantime, and changing the policy from the MX-3 V6 (paid upfront) and when I changed the policy over to the 205 with about 6 months left, I only got £150 back. Bloody rip-off considering I'd paid 1700 for the policy.

So yeah conclusion; Adrian Flux are spot on for modded motors, but shit for regular runarounds.

Get it, 5 Bhp extra due to less rotational friction from underdriving auxilliarys…You will need a shorter belt for the Power steering and Alternator from Halfords but for a cost of £50 for it all its a sweet mod...

Also try and stretch for a Fidenza flywheel, they aint cheap but if you want rapid accel its a little help!